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Press contact: Marlene Swan, (306) 621-9803
Element Industrial Forms Alliance with Dr. Ted Blackmon of Construct-X, Jovian Ventures for Synergy on Capital Projects
Edmonton, August 9, 2019 – Element Industrial Solutions is pleased to announce an alliance in the industrial construction industry with Dr. Ted Blackmon, founder of Construct-X, a professional services organization, and Jovian Ventures, a next-generation agile launchpad for startups focused on capital projects and global sustainability. As a visionary and serial entrepreneur, Dr. Blackmon helped to pioneer the market for Advanced Work Packaging (AWP), Workface Planning and 4D/5D/XD BIM for the industrial construction industry in the early 2000 timeframe with the invention of the ConstructSim and OpSim platforms. He is also a founder of and investor in a suite of technology startups helping to bring sweeping change to the capital projects industry.
Dr. Blackmon’s early career achievements began as a member of the highly successful Mars Pathfinder Mission in 1997, where he developed and operated the Virtual Reality for MarsMap software program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, planning and monitoring the daily activities for the Sojourner rover (the first robotic vehicle to reach the surface of another planet) in Mission Control. Dr. Blackmon went on to leverage MarsMap platform as a pioneering technology commercialization endeavor at NASA, with aim to address difficult resource challenges here on Earth. Dr. Blackmon holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998, where his research focused on tele-robotics, augmented reality, and neurological control of human movement and vision. Dr. Blackmon now spearheads AWP Innovations at Construct-X, the leading management consulting firm in the area of AWP, driving the successful implementation of AWP for clients in the Oil & Gas, Chemical and other major industry commercial sectors.
The intent of the alliance between Element Industrial Solutions and Construct-X is to extend AWP best practices to the Electrical & Instrumentation (E&I) disciplines on Construct-X client projects. AWP best practices have historically been broadly applied on capital projects for structural, piping, and process equipment, but AWP’s application to E&I disciplines in general has been limited to date due to insufficient industry expertise and guidelines. By teaming with Construct-X and Dr. Blackmon, Element Industrial Solutions is well positioned to provide industry guidance to help shape AWP best practices within the E&I disciplines on capital projects where AWP initiatives are already underway.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Ben Swan and the team at Element Industrial Solutions,” said Ted Blackmon of Construct-X. “Ben brings a unique and unparalleled set of talents and expertise that is a great match for Construct-X. Our clients are already seeing the value and are delighted to be working with him and leveraging his powerful insights as part of their desire to optimize AWP on their capital projects.”
Ben Swan, co-founder of Element Industrial Solutions, brings over 30 years of experience in the electrical and instrumentation (E&I) industry to his work on capital projects across a range of sizes, from mega to turnaround to portfolio projects in an existing site. Mr. Swan has spent over a decade in development of the work processes and support computerized methodology to support WorkFace Planning for the E&I disciplines. Mr. Swan’s mastery of business processes required for work packaging in the E&I disciplines is well-renowned, having been accomplished through his use of AWP processes to manage projects ranging from small capital projects to multibillion-dollar projects in the Oil and Gas, Utilities, Potash, and Steel Manufacturing Industries.
Mr. Swan, a leader in his field in development of the AWP Methodology, has served as Co-Chair of the Advanced Work Packaging Scalability Committee of the Construction Owners Association of Alberta (COAA), playing a key role in developing and rolling out the Scalable AWP Model to the Construction industry in both Canada and the United States of America at industry conferences.
The new alliance between Element Industrial Solutions and Construct-X promises industrial advancement and effective implementation practices through the mutual commitment, talent, and technologies shared by both organizations. Working side by side in alignment, the two companies are already beginning to deliver greater optimization, value, and safety to the construction industry.